The Beef Project

One of the local farmers passes away and Junior Singleton inherits from him a prized steer that the men promptly offer to butcher for him.

Cast (in order of appearance):, , , , , , , , , , , ,

DVID: Red Green Stuffed and Mounted, Vol. 1; Red Green Show – The Toddlin' Years

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DVD Commentary by Steve Smith
{from Stuffed and Mounted}

STEVE SMITH:  This honestly is one of my favorite episodes of all time, uh, of "The Red Green Show", "The Beef Project". I think most of the classic things I remember about it happen in one of the last scenes, where we come in and say that nobody had the nerve to actually kill the– the cow. Moose Thompson asked it to marry him. Nobody could look into those big brown eyes and then nail it with a sledgehammer. And then the other thing about, uh... After that, I can't eat beef anymore; we're having hot dogs. To me, that doesn't get any better, but that– that's really one of my problems.

Segment Summary
See also: Transcript

Plot: A local farmer named Grouchy Radcliffe had passed away, with no relatives to inherit anything he has. Red explains that only Junior Singleton, who had helped to look after his farm, has a chance. But Grouchy leaves his property and his money to a church and his manure pile to Possum Lodge. The only thing Junior inherits is Grouchy's prized steer, Wanda the wonder cow. Junior plans to honor Grouchy by butchering and eating the cow. So all the lodge members come out with their power tools, used for different meats, to help slaughter the cow. But in the end, at the last second, they can't bring themselves to slaughter the cow and they chicken out. Red thinks that by chickening out, the image of the lodge is hurt.

Opening Scene: Red thinks that man's domination may be the reason men eat so much meat.

Red's Campfire Songs: Camping lesson number one.

Buddy System: Red and Dalton explain how to get away with not listening to your wife.

Handyman Corner: Red makes a tombstone out of various car parts.

Midlife: Why not to say anything when you have nothing to say.

Game Show: Harold hosts a game show in which Red, Dougie and his brother, Ben, are contestants.

Visit With Ranger Gord: Gord loans Red a book on slaughtering.

Adventures With Bill: Bill has fun jumping up and down on a trampoline.

The Experts: Edgar explains how to deal with roof shingles that are cracking and curling up.

Visit With Winston Rothschild: Winston explains how to start a business and also how to slaughter the cow.

Harold's Announcements: Harold is invited to a sleepover at Ranger Gord's tower.

Explanations

 * The phrase flotsam and jetsam describes discarded odds and ends or any objects found floating or washed ashore.
 * A palindrome is a word, phrase, number or other sequence of units that can be read the same way in either direction.
 * A gigolo is a slang term from "male prostitution", which is the sale of sexual services (prostitution) by a male.

Trivia

 * This episode marked the debuts of Dalton Humphrey, Winston Rothschild, Ben Franklin and Edgar K.B. Montrose.
 * Beginning with this episode, The Red Green Show was picked up by Global, and the show got revamped as The New Red Green Show, which remained in use until The Winter Carnival. This episode marked the debuts of Midlife, and Buddy System.
 * During the game show segment, when each contestant is given a different noise-maker device, Ben Franklin is shown having extreme difficulty getting his miniature car-horn to work. This was not part of the script, and the other actors' hilarious reactions (particularly those of Ian Thomas) are genuine.
 * Grouchy's animal is described as a steer, "Wanda the Wonder Cow". A steer is a castrated male; cows are female.

Real-World References

 * During the title sequence, Red mentions Laugh-In and The Carol Burnett Show.
 * Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune are both famous television game shows that were both created by Merv Griffin.
 * The invitation to Gord's pajama party includes a note to bring over the invitee's ABBA albums.
 * Red's line, "Follow your nose," in reference to a career, refers to a catchphrase spoken by Toucan Sam, the mascot for Froot Loops.

Famous People

 * In the title sequence, Red mentions Marlin Perkins.
 * During Handyman Corner, Red mentions Elvis.
 * When Red talks about butchering the cow, Harold says he feels like (and Red tells him he looks like) K.D. Lang.
 * Monet, one of the categories in the game show, refers to Claude Monet, a French Impressionist painter.